Message of greetings by the Mayor of Vienna, Dr. Michael Häupl. 01.09.2006

Dear citizens of Vienna, Dear friends of the United Buddy Bears,

It is a great pleasure for me to finally welcome the United Buddy Bears to the UN city Vienna on their world tour.

As you will see when you walk around the circle, they are not only remarkable, every one of them – it is the message conveyed by these 137 bears that touches the hearts of their admirers all over the world.

The bears represent 137 member states of the United Nations, and the individual design of each bear tells us a lot about the countries they represent. The circle symbolises love, peace, friendship, tolerance and international understanding.

As the Mayor of a cosmopolitan city at the heart of Europe I can only wholeheartedly support the motto of the project: “WE HAVE TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER, it makes us understand one another better, trust each other more and live together more peacefully.”